This invention relates to an electronic printer comprising a single tracing element, in which the tracing element is moved relative to the paper in accordance with two coordinates parallel to the printing plane in order to trace alphanumerical characters independently of the advancement of the printing. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for such printers in which a memory stores a set of numerical data for generating each of the characters. Various printers of the aforesaid type are known in which the instructions for tracing a carhacter are stored in a memory, or transmitted over a line. It has also been proposed to control the movements of the tracing element by means of servo-mechanism controlled by numerical instructions. These instructions define the velocity of the two components, which controls the corresponding servo-mechanism for a constant time period, so that each instruction represents the X and Y components of velocity vectors of variable length. The velocity of the tracking element thus varies along the trajector, and its average is less than the allowable maximum velocity for the tracing element. Moreover, if the tracing element comprises a store of ink, the definition of the sign, and in particular the ink delivered, can vary according to the velocity of movement of the tracing element.